St. John’s Centre NDP MHA Gerry Rogers hosted a wildly successful town hall last night, and brought some of the most pressing concerns raised there to the House of Assembly today. Rogers says seniors, in particular, are deeply concerned about coping with the punitive austerity measures in Budget 2016.

NDP Seniors Critic Gerry Rogers (MHA, St. John’s Centre) says the inevitable increases in electricity prices that will come when Muskrat Falls power comes on line will hit one group of the population especially hard.

That group is the province’s seniors, particularly women, who often have particularly low incomes.

NDP Health Critic Lorraine Michael (MHA, Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi) says it is incredible that the new long-term care facility in St. John’s still has 29 empty beds at a time when there is desperate need – and unforgiveable that plans were not made for appropriate staffing.

NDP critic for Seniors, Wellness and Social Development Gerry Rogers (MHA, St. John’s Centre) says health care dollars that go to company profits are health care dollars that cannot be used to provide care for seniors and other residents of long-term care facilities.

NDP Health Critic Lorraine Michael (MHA, Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi) wants to know more – a lot more – about government’s decision to enter the world of public-private partnerships, essentially privatizing the care of seniors.

NDP critic for Seniors, Wellness and Social Development Gerry Rogers (MHA, St. John’s Centre) says there is a one-year waitlist in the Provincial Hearing Aid Program. This is causing further problems ranging from increased isolation to threat of job loss for people who are waiting for new hearing aids.

The NDP Critic for Seniors, Wellness and Social Development brought the plight of one of her constituents to the House of Assembly today. St. John’s Centre MHA Gerry Rogers says “John” is a senior citizen who worked at minimum wage jobs all his life, and whose pared-down monthly expenses exceed his income by several hundred dollars.